Francis Kenrick

Francis Patrick Kenrick (3 December 1796-8 July 1863) was Bishop of Philadelphia from 1842 to 1851, succeeding Henry Conwell and preceding John Neumann, and Archbishop of Baltimore from 1851 to 1863, succeeding Samuel Eccleston and preceding Martin John Spalding.

Biography
Francis Patrick Kenrick was born in Dublin, Ireland on 3 December 1796, and he became an ordained Catholic priest in 1821 after studying in Rome. Shortly after his ordination, he was invited to join the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky in the United States. In 1830, he became Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia, and he became Bishop of Philadelphia in 1842. He was concerned about the fact that Catholics had to participate in Protestant religious instruction in public schools, leading to nativist riots against the Irish immigrants in 1844. In 1851, he became Archbishop of Baltimore, and he opened free parochial schools for Catholic students. Kenrick was troubled by the American Civil War, and he died on 8 July 1863, shortly after reading of the massive slaughter that had taken place at the Battle of Gettysburg.